Lafayette spoiled the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team’s quest for a 3-0 start, downing the Bearcats, 12-6, on Saturday.

Lafayette (3-2) cut Binghamton’s 4-1 lead to one with a pair of goals just before halftime and proceeded to outshoot the Bearcats (2-1), 16-3, in the second half. Binghamton won three of 12 draw controls in the period.

“We got complacent, and were out-hustled to the ball [in the second half],” BU head coach Stephanie Allen said. “We didn’t value possession of the ball. We were not outworking and outfighting Lafayette during the run.”

Despite Binghamton’s collapse, the team’s offensive success was balanced once again. Five different Bearcats scored: Freshman Liz Hoeffner led the team with two goals, while senior Angela Vespa, freshman Callon Williams, junior attack Alex Fisher and junior midfielder Renee Kiviat each tallied one.

Allen applauded her team’s balance offensively, but said that for the team to be successful, her best players need to lead the charge. Freshman attack Brianne Arthur, who had posted 10 goals through the first two games, did not score.

“It was nice to see a few players step up within the offensive structure,” Allen said. “But going forward we need our stars to play well and lead the team.”

One star for Binghamton has been sophomore goalie Erin McNulty, who followed up a six-save performance at Lehigh with 12 stops at Lafayette.

“[McNulty] has been seeing the ball well,” Allen said. “Her performance gave us the opportunity to win. The result could have been worse without her outing.”

Binghamton will be off the road for two weeks as it enters a three-game home stand.

“I think we’ll have a bit of a change in attitude now that we are at home,” Allen said. “We want to compete for all 60 minutes. What we will be focusing on between now and then will be to value possession of the ball.”

Binghamton is scheduled to host Niagara on Thursday. Play is set to begin at 3 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex.